EU Referendum - Made Your Mind Up Yet - If So, Why & How?

I get all sorts of abuse locally for making the statement that I have not made my mind up yet as to which way I will vote in the upcoming EU Referendum. I think that it is too early to have done so as there is a lot of information out there that has not yet come to light and without it doing so then there is a huge danger of simply making an emotional decision rather than one based on facts.

There are some that look at the present problem of immigration as "the" factor in making their minds up. There are those that say that it is too expensive for this country to remain a member. Then again there are those who, somehow, bring overseas aid into the discussion, which I find completely random. I respect the opinions of others but that does not mean that, at the moment, I have to or even should agree with them.

My belief was further strengthened when I read the article below from The Financial Times. I find the content very concerning given that this island of ours relies heavily on foreign trade and foreign investment for its prosperity and jobs. This has not persuaded me to decide to vote to stay in but it does throw a different and, may I say, enlightening view on the wider issues.

Have a read it may widen understanding:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aba86dce-7efa-11e5-98fb-5a6d4728f74e.html#axzz3q8Dg3DW4

Must Be A Woolyback Word - But No! Sick Innit?

Went to Birkenhead yesterday to watch the mighty Lincoln City Football Club against Tranmere Rovers. Excellent day out and not a bad result Nil - Nil against them in the FA Cup. Replay on Tuesday at Sincil Bank. However I digress.

Stuck on the wall of the stand was this sign:

Now that was a word I have never seen before. Vomitory. Thought it really had to be a Woolyback word. For the reader not acquainted with the term Woolyback (or Wools), it is a word used by Scousers, those born within Liverpool, for those that sound like Scousers and sometimes calling themselves Scousers who are actually from one of the towns surrounding Liverpool, such as Birkenhead. Still with me? Good oh.

So back to this word Vomitory. What does it actually mean? Is it to do with vomiting? Well yes and no from my investigations.

Apparently the term is derived from a Vomitoriom, which for some strange reason, is a Roman word for a passageway or alleyway which connects the outside to a row of seats. In the case of Tranmere Rovers, according to one of the stewards who should know, their vomitory or is that vomitori in the plural, are the stairwells leading down from the seating in the stands to the space underneath which houses the bar and the food outlets. Talkng of food and drinks, this leads me to another savoury tidbit, sorry about that, from my investigations. Apparently the vomitorium became a place where the ancient Romans went to vomit up the food they had already eaten to make way for some more. Delightful no? Does that mean they were all bulimic?

In the vernacular Sick innit mate?

Life, as they say, is a classroom every day.

I hope all of that was as educational for you as it was for me.

Valeat quantum valere potest.

The Coastal Highway - Really?

Heard today that there is a plan to rename or rather give a name to the road leading from Lincoln to Skegness, the infamous A158. It is planned to call it "The Coastal Highway". Really?

What does the term "coastal highway" conjure up in your mind?

Something like this perhaps?

That is what I would term a coastal highway, a highway that runs along the coast.

The A158 certainly does not meet my expectations of the name. It does not run along the coast and it most certainly is not a highway.

Apparently the county council has a plan that the signs will be installed near Newark to highlight the route to our coast with further signs appearing along the route. I would contend that it is easy enough to find that route without a name being given to it to highlight it.

What a let-down it would be for a first time visitor that had been led to believe that the A158 from Lincoln to Skegness was some kind of highway, some kind of quick route to the coast. What a disappointment! It is not going to draw people to our coast!

I love the idea of the A158 being turned into a highway that would allow for a swift journey along the 41 miles from our county city to Skegness but I know that is not going to happen. The A158 needs major investment to rid it of the bottle-necks that have been known about for decades, namely Horncastle and Wragby, which would make the trip to the coast quicker and much more pleasant. That would go some way to encouraging more people to come to our coast. A cheap option of a few signs giving it a name, a somewhat misleading name at that, is definitely not what is needed.

For further thoughts on the road infrastructure in this area please see http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a52a158-they-are-our-arteries-east.html

A New Grammar School - Excellent News!

I am very, very pleased to hear that there is to be a new Grammar School in Sevenoaks, Kent. Well that is not wholly correct as it is technically an annex of The Weald Grammar School which is based in Tonbridge which is approximately 9 miles away from the new site. This will be the first Grammar School built in the last 50 years.

I feel it is a great pity that the only way this could happen was to make the new school an annexe of an existing one, when in fact there is no real reason why new Grammar Schools should not be built in their own right. The Labour government of 1965 told local authorities to start converting schools to a comprehensive system. Then in 1998 the Labour government passed legislation that outlawed the building of any new Grammar Schools but allowed existing Grammar Schools to expand if their is sufficient demand. In the case of Sevenoaks there was clearly sufficient demand for a Grammar School as there are already 1100 pupils travelling from Sevenoaks to nearby Grammar Schools requiring a round trip of 25 miles taking up to two hours. Despite this and despite the Labour inspired legislation as described the Labour Party, Lucy Powell, Shadow Education Secretary, described this expansion as "a hugely backward step". All a bit confusing from Labour I think!

Something I find hugely unfortunate is that the expansion of this school will only allow the girls of Sevenoaks to take up the 450 places available as the parent school is girls only, with boys only admitted to the 6th form!

I am very aware of all of the arguments pro and anti Grammar Schools but in my own personal opinion Grammar Schools are a good thing. I see nothing wrong in providing an education system that allows the more academically able students to be pushed to achieve all that they can.

That opinion then leads onto the subject of selectivity. The 11+ examinaton! There needs to be selectivity to ensure that the most academically able students are identified. Should this happen at the age of 11? Is that the right time? I think it probably is as that is the end of the Primary School years. I do think though, that more emphasis should be placed on the opportunity for students that did not pass the 11+ to take the 13+ and then gain entry to Grammar Schools. That would then "mop up" for want of a better term those students that have flourished later in their school career.

I am hugely in favour of there not being a "one-size fits all" education system. Grammar Schools, Technical Schools, Free Schools and Academies have all got a huge part to play in ensuring that our students get as good an education as possible and that education is delivered in a setting or system that matches the individual students needs.

A last thought. The one thing relating to this issue that I find utterly reprehensible is the notion that students that do not pass the 11+ examination are made to feel inadequate or failures. That should never be the case and if parents or educationalists are leading students to feel that way then it is those parents or educationalists that are at fault. All children should be made to feel that they can achieve no matter what type or system of Secondary Education they attend. I did not pass the 11+ and went to a Secondary School. That did not nor does not make me a failure either educationally or in life because I was given the opportunity to achieve. Perhaps that is the most important lesson to be learned?

East Lindsey Car Parking - Back To Unfairness

I am sure that a lot of you will have heard about or seen that a recommendation is to be made by a Scrutiny Committee to the District Council with regard to removing car parking charges in some car parks. On the face of it this appears to be all good news and something to be welcomed but it is a return to unfairness.

Let me explain.

Prior to the last major change to car parking there were 14 car parks within the district that were free to park in. The rest of the approximately 58 car parks were charged. To my knowledge, there was no real basis for the fact that these 14 car parks were free. This was just an historical anomaly.

None of these original free car parks were in Skegness and that point had long been a matter of discontent amongst the local population and the local councillors alike, both District and Town councillors. When the car parking charges were revised and all car parks were charged then there were still no free car parks in Skegness but at least all other communities were being treated in the same way. An element of fairness had been achieved, although there were still one or two anomalies.

This fairness issue was considered when, subsequently, the charging at some car parks was changed to allow for 2 hours of free car parking. Every community benefited from the changes as every community had a non-centrally located car park with 2 hours free parking. Fairness!

It is now proposed that car parking charges will be removed but unfortunately only in those 14 car parks that were once free to park in! Why? Why only those car parks? Why will only some of the communities within the District benefit from this? Why are some of the most deprived communities in the District not going to benefit from free parking whilst some of the most affluent are? Where is the fairness in that? Why will some town and village centres and the businesses in them benefit whilst other town centres won't? This is truly a retrograde recommendation.

I sincerely hope that the District Councillors that represent Skegness, of all parties, will oppose this recommendation unless the fairness issue is addressed and I hope they will be joined by their colleagues who represent other communities who will also be treated unfairly if this recommendation is accepted and then sanctioned by the Executive Committee. Time to stand up for your communities ladies and gentlemen!